Turkey Freezes Yemen’s Former President Assets

Saleh – Turkey said keeping in line with a UN Security Council decision, it has frozen the assets of Yemen’s former President, Ali Saleh.

The UN Security Council had in November 2014 imposed sanctions against Saleh and rebel leaders, accusing them of destabilising the country.

The Government said in its official gazette on Thursday in Istanbul that Saleh’s assets remained frozen until Feb. 26, 2017.

It said in a statement that the measure also applied to Saleh’s son, Ahmed Saleh, and rebel commanders. It did not provide the value of his assets in Turkey, but stressed that in February 2015, a UN report said Saleh had allegedly amassed assets estimated at 32 billion dollars to 60 billion dollars during his 33 years in power.

The UN experts estimated that Saleh made nearly 2 billion dollars a year for more than three decades.

They said the assets took the form of property, cash, shares, gold and other valuables. It added that a report by a panel of experts for the UN Security Council said Saleh transferred most of his assets to some 20 countries under false names or the names of others holding the assets on his behalf.

Saleh ruled North Yemen from 1979 and united Yemen from 1994. He stepped down in 2012 under a Gulf-sponsored deal after months of street protests against his rule.

Yemen has been in turmoil since September 2014, when the mainly Shiite Houthi rebels and troops loyal to Saleh overran the capital, Sana’a.

Saleh, now 74, has not been seen much in public since Saudi Arabia and its allies started an air campaign against the Iran-backed rebels in March 2015. He is believed to be living in rebel-held Sana’a.